Spain’s deadliest floods in decades kill at least 64 people

LA ALCUDIA, Spain — At least 64 people have been killed in the deadliest flooding to hit Spain for three decades after torrential rain battered the eastern region of Valencia on Tuesday, leaving roads and towns under water, local authorities said on Wednesday.

Rescuers using dinghies worked in the dark to scour the floodwaters, taking several people to safety, television pictures from the town of Utiel showed, and emergency services were still working to reach the worst-hit areas.

"For those who at this moment are still looking for their loved ones, the whole of Spain weeps with you," Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said in a televised address, vowing to "rebuild your streets, your squares, your bridges."

Carlos Mazon, the regional leader of Valencia, which accounts for nearly two-thirds of citrus production in the world's top orange supplier, said some people remained isolated in inaccessible locations.

"If [emergency services] have not arrived, it's not due to a lack of means or predisposition, but a problem of access," Mazon told a press conference, adding that reaching certain areas was "absolutely impossible."

At least 62 people died in Valencia while authorities in the central region of Castilla La Mancha said the storm had left two people dead and several missing.

Dozens of videos shared on social media overnight appeared to show people trapped by the floodwaters, with some climbing into trees to avoid being swept away. Footage showed rescue workers carrying several women in a bulldozer's bucket.

Trains to the cities of Madrid and Barcelona were cancelled due to the flooding, and schools and other essential services were suspended in the worst-hit areas, officials said.

Emergency services in the region urged citizens to avoid all road travel and to follow further official advice, and a military unit specialized in rescue operations was deployed in some places to help local emergency workers.

Some parts of the region such as the towns of Turis, Chiva or Bunol recorded more than 400 mm (15.75 inches) of rainfall—equivalent to a year of normal rainfall—leading the state weather agency AEMET to declare a red alert on Tuesday.

As rain eased there, the alert was lowered to amber, but with the storm moving in a northeasterly direction, the regional weather service in Catalonia issued a red alert for the area around Barcelona, warning of high winds and hail.

Deadliest Spanish floods since 1996

The death toll appeared to be the worst in Europe from flooding since 2021 when at least 185 people died in Germany.

It is the deadliest flood-related disaster in Spain since 1996, when 87 people died near a town in the Pyrenees mountains.

King Felipe said the country's emergency services were doing everything possible to help and expressed his condolences "for the loss of so many lives."

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on X that Europe was ready to help. "What we're seeing in Spain is devastating," she said on X.

ASAJA, one of Spain's largest farmer groups, said on Tuesday it expected significant damage to crops.

Spain is the world's largest exporter of fresh and dried oranges, according to trade data provider the Observatory of Economic Complexity, and Valencia accounts for about 60% of the country's citrus production, according to Valencian Institute of Agriculture Investigations.

Scientists say extreme weather events are becoming more frequent in Europe due to climate change. Meteorologists think the warming of the Mediterranean, which increases water evaporation, plays a key role in making torrential rains more severe.

"Events of this type, which used to occur many decades apart, are now becoming more frequent and their destructive capacity is greater," said Ernesto Rodriguez Camino, senior state meteorologist and a member of the Spanish Meteorological Association. — Reuters